Sports
Hockey

Golden goalie family

The Beaudrys edged the Gravelles 5-4 in a shootout to win the North Bay Employee Hockey Tournament Family A championship at Pete Palangio arena, Sunday. Team members include Carl Beaudry, Miguel Beaudry, Chris Beaudry, Alain Beaudry, Pat Beaudry, Jeanne Boutin, Reg Boutin, Justin Boutin, Dave Lindsay, Max Paquette, Dale Alkins and Mathieu Sneddon. Originating out of the Verner area, the unique feature about the Beaudry-Girouard team is that they have 13 goalie relatives to call upon when needed.

There's no bottom to the well of stories at the North Bay Employee Hockey Tournament, an event where former pros, almost-made-its and weekend-warriors gather to play for pride and fun every April.

For many, it's the year-ender for beer-leaguers and sand-baggers, as well as annual family formations with various divisions of competition spread out over several weeks.

The 30th anniversary was celebrated this year as it continues to raise money for youth-related charities, with the bulk of about $10,000 in proceeds going once again to North Bay – KidSport, which helps cover the fees for organized youth sports when family budgets are tight.

The 2017 version culminated Sunday with family, co-ed and 35-plus and masters championships providing the glory and grist for jokes, jeers and tall tales for years to come. More than 80 teams were involved overall when counting all the competitive and recreational teams.

One of the best stories this time around came to The Nugget from a tip by organizer Moe Bedard, who said it's usually harder to find goalies than players when a roster hole needs filled.

The position requires more flexibility and specialized skill than at forward and defence, especially when age naturally takes its toll and the athletes are further removed from regular competition.

Some of the shooters still have a measure of major junior and professional velocity, so facing such snipers takes a bit of spine. Six ounces of vulcanized rubber coming at even a slow 70 km/h can knock a person out cold (or break a helmet). Even a heavy wrister can leave a bone-bleeding bruise if it hits the wrong spot between padding.

But Bedard said the Beaudry-Girouard clan has that problem solved with enough goalies spread throughout the roots of the family tree to ice an entire division.

And, as Carl Beaudry proved in the Family A championship against the sharp-shooting Gravelles, experience in net can make the difference.

He's one of 13 goalies spread along three generations, a familiar positional quirk that started with his father Francois and spread like a bad rash.

Carl, Pat and Miguel Beaudry shared some laughs and insight about it after edging the Gravelles in a shootout for the top prize.

"I can't stop when I play forward, so I'm a liability (out of the net)," Carl said with a laugh, adding three of his uncles also donned the pads so there was no escaping the goalie disease for him.

Miguel, who played major junior with the OHL Sudbury Wolves and Mississauga IceDogs (1999-2003) and continued for seven semi-professional seasons, said he picked it up idolizing his cousin Carl.

And Pat said he came down with the puck-eating plague watching Miguel after he made it to the 'O' in Sudbury, with the Verner-based family not far from the excitement.

"It just keeps regenerating," Miguel said, adding it was hard at first when he retired from netminding seven years ago to not try to block everything.

Carl's experience came into play after Gravelle sniper Brodie Whitehead, who was the alternate captain in his final season with the Jr. B Elmira Sugar Kings in 2015, caught him napping on the short side with the game's first shot.

Jake Gravelle, drafted to the OHL Mississauga Steelheads last spring and a potent force with the North Bay Midget AAA Trappers, made it 2-0 before six minutes was up.

"I was telling Miguel I thought the game started at 11:15 a.m.," he said, joking about his slow start.

Miguel said there's a lot of "understanding" amongst their family's team when someone lets in a bad goal or whatever.

And he said the ones that play out have a ready excuse when they "screw up" because, as everybody knows, they're just goalies and not real defencemen.

Pat said it helps to have so many goalies, noting that a couple years ago when Carl got injured, they had a list of relatives to call and they were still on goalies when the third one agreed to come out.

Carl said it's also a bit of a problem because, like him, not all of them can play other positions so even though they'd like to get some of the other cousins out for the tourney, they can't do it.

The Beaudrys responded to the deficit with Dave Lindsay, Miguel and Mathieu Sneddon making it 3-3 after Glen Gravelle one-timed a centring pass from Jake for their third marker.

Riley Gravelle sniped a powerplay marker three minutes into the second and last period (they play two 15-minute frames), assisted by cousin Blake Whitehead, sending the water bottle behind Carl into the air.

Lindsay, however, returned the favour, beating the Gravelle's Pat Rideout (the team's lone non-family member and usually a forward), with about nine minutes remaining.

Carl then shut the door on the Beaudry net, making several big stops, one by reaching back with the paddle and the other by kicking the pad out.

The Gravelle momentum was erased, though, with a late penalty and it went by rules straight to a simultaneous shootout.

Both goalies made the first stops and both got beat on the second one, but it was Carl out-waiting the crafty Ryan Mills (a Midget AAA Trappers forward drafted by the North Bay Battalion last month).

Just a split-second before, Justin Boutin beat Rideout for what turned out to be the 5-4 game-winner.

Pat said they enjoy the tourney for more than the glory of winning.

"It's a fun tournament, good way to end your year," he said, with Miguel adding it's a chance "to see uncles, aunts and cousins you don't always get to see."

ddale@postmedia.com

Editor's Note: The Nugget is compiling a list of all the team winners for each category and division for publication at a future date. Organizers will let the teams know when that piece is ready.